Happy Hour
by Djinni of the Pen
Summary: Chloe steps outside the cyber world for a little while and finds that she enjoys it. Set around season 9. Oneshot. Dedicated to my good friend, Eteralight :


**Happy Hour**

Chloe took a sip of her coffee and grimaced; it had gotten cold. She sighed and set it down beside her laptop. _Oh well_, she thought, _at least I can stop pretending to be disinterested in my work_. She began to type again with added gusto.

Breaking LuthorCorp's firewalls had become something like a pastime for Chloe. She had increasingly found it difficult to take herself away from the computer. There was a lot of work to do and Watchtower wouldn't run itself. But in the wee hours and the lull times in between she found that she just couldn't push that 'off' button. Her diaphragm would clench and her stomach would begin to flutter with butterflies. So, to ease her through those down times she had begun to crack LuthorCorp's firewalls. At first, it had been nothing more than a sharpening of her skills but now she had started to find that she looked forward to what the company's IT staff would throw in her way next.

_Pathetic, really_, a voice in the back of her head whispered. _Why bother going to this café anyway?_ _Hacking has become your happy hour._ She frowned and pushed the voice away, trying to concentrate on her work. A particularly nasty piece of code popped up and she set her mind to tearing it apart.

The strips of data separated into fragments in her mind and she focused on one piece at a time. It was difficult stuff, a true work of art and whoever Tess was hiring she needed to start paying them double. _Of course, they aren't as skilled as I am_, Chloe thought with a smile.

The code fell apart and LuthorCorp's secrets opened up to her. Chloe stretched and sat back in her chair with a satisfied smile. She casually closed her connection to LuthorCorp, her victory over the latest firewall proving enough of a reward for her. _Better luck next time, boys_. She looked around the coffee shop and was startled to realise that it was already afternoon. She checked her watch; two in the afternoon. She had spent the entire day absorbed in breaking through firewalls. The thought made her feel strangely ill.

With a shaky hand she called over a waitress and ordered another coffee. Whilst she waited for her drink she warily eyed her laptop. _What is the matter with me? I never used to be this obsessed._

_Weren't you_? that voice in the back of her head asked her. _Are you so sure of that?_

Chloe rubbed her computer-strained eyes. Images of code stared back at her from inside her eyelids. Her eyes flew open and, without thinking, she slammed her laptop shut. Her second coffee arrived but, like the first, it sat at her table forgotten as Chloe stared at her laptop.

Maybe Clark was right. Maybe she was becoming too focused on her work. But even as she stared at her closed laptop she felt a growing need to open it again, she check on Watchtower, to crack more code, hell, to play minesweeper even! She realised she didn't care what it was she just had to have her laptop open again. With a feeling of helplessness she watched as her fingers edge closer to the machine.

The sound of a child crying drew her up short. Chloe looked around and spotted the source. A little girl, maybe only four or five, stood pressing one tear-stained hand against her face and clutching on to her mother's dress with the other. Absently, Chloe wondered what had upset her. Well, whatever the mother was saying seemed to be doing the trick. The girl's face cleared up and she'd even begun to smile. Funny, Chloe felt the beginnings of a smile on her face.

But as the mother and daughter walked past Chloe felt herself stiffen in surprise.

"And if you're an especially good girl," the mother said, "maybe The Blur might help find Mr. Bear."

The girl's face brightened and she actually laughed a little. "Do you think that The Blur cares about cats too?"

"I'm sure he does," the mother said.

As the two passed by Chloe turned her head and watched them go. The little girl talked with animated gestures and the mother kept giving her reassuring smiles. _Huh…well isn't that something._ It felt strange to hear The Blur mentioned in everyday conversation now. With a snarky thought that edged close to bitterness she wondered if Clark really _did_ have time to be chasing the family pet around.

With an irritated shake she took a swig of her lukewarm coffee and tried to wash away her acrimonious mood. Honestly, had she been any different at that girl's age? Hadn't she wanted there to be something mysterious in her life, something that would watch out for her? It had only seemed like a few years ago that she too, was wondering if 'The Blur' would come and take care of her one day.

_Things have changed. I'm not a little girl anymore._ That comment was something people usually said with pride and achievement. But all Chloe felt was a sudden sense of emptiness.

She turned her head again and watched the mother and daughter continue down the street. As she watched an idea came to her. She smiled a little at the preposterous notion. _What the heck_, she decided, _let's do it_.

Chloe pulled her laptop up and set to work. It was a simple matter to hack into the street security camera system and then to I.D the face of the mother, Halley Steiner. Chloe looked up her address and was happy to see the family only lived a few blocks away. With a sense of purpose Chloe paid for her two coffees, hailed a taxi and made her way to the family's home.

She waited patiently in front of the family's home and, as expected, she didn't have to wait long. Clark arrived in a…well, _blur_ of speed.

"What's up Chloe?" he asked. "You said it was an emergency."

When Chloe told him what she wanted to do Clark raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?" His tone switched to irritation. "Chloe I thought you said it was an emergency."

"Yeah, well Clark," Chloe retorted, "for some people it is. What's the matter, too tough an assignment for you?"

Clark rolled his eyes but set about his task anyway.

* * *

><p>Rachel Steiner, who was not just four but four-and-a-half, truly believed that The Blur was the best in the entire world. That was, after mummy of course. So when she got home, licking the ice-cream that mummy had bought her she wasn't really surprised to see a box on the front step of their porch with The Blur's sign marked on it. Mummy was a little bit surprised but that was because she was a grown up and all sorts of grown up things scared her. Rachel opened the box with a squeal of delight and sure enough, Mr. Bear was inside. He needed a good brush and a good feed too but he looked about as well as Mr. Bear had ever looked. When her mummy had said that The Blur would help her find Mr. Bear, Rachel had never doubted it. That was because The Blur was the <em>best<em>…

…After mummy.

* * *

><p>Chloe took a moment to watch the little girl hug her cat before she hailed a cab and made for home. She couldn't wipe the smile from her face even if she tried. So what if it wasn't masked ne'er-do-wells or killer aliens from another galaxy, this win felt as good as any of them. In fact, she thought with some pride, she had even managed to stay off her laptop for a good few hours. Now <em>that<em> was something.

But, even as she thought that she felt the tugging need to be on it again pulling at her. It was enough to make her feelings of victory fade away like they were never even there.

And just like that she was back to where she had started this morning. Somehow, her steps had not taken her home but back in front of the myriad of monitors that was Watchtower.

For a while she just stared at the screens, watching the images they displayed flash by. And then, because she truly could think of nothing to do with herself, she began to hack into LuthorCorp once more.

Had it been for nothing? Her minor step outside her virtual world? She didn't know anymore. But for a while it had felt…good. And even as she sank herself into the depths of cyberspace she held onto that feeling and the image of one little girl holding her cat.


End file.
